"I just signed a three-year contract with my sponsor. At least in the next three years, I don't have to worry about the expenses for Chen Zhen's training and overseas competitions." Chen Jianguo's voice rang on the mobile phone, revealing a joyful emotion.
Dai Li looked at his watch. Although it was broad daylight in Los Angeles, it was still early in the morning in China. It was rare for Chen Jianguo to maintain such an excited mood in the middle of the night.
As Li Dai said, although Chen Zhen lost the game, he became famous in one battle. In the first round of the US Open, King Basel played four tie-breaks, plus a long set. His opponent will naturally attract people's attention. Everyone wants to know what kind of opponent can give him Basel brings such trouble.
Chen Zhen also gained the favor of many sponsors. After he returned to China, he was approached by several advertising endorsement contracts. The most sincere one was a car brand that gave him a three-year, five-million-dollar advertising contract. Endorsement. For a car brand, five million is just a drop in the bucket. It can be earned by selling a few cars, but for Chen Zhen, this solves his urgent need.
Professional tennis players usually have relatively high expenses. Professional tennis is inherently a relatively expensive sport. For free players, equipment, training venues, coaches, and travel expenses during the game all need to be borne by the athletes. According to estimates, this amount The minimum annual guarantee of money is about 40,000 US dollars. There are relatively few tennis competitions in Asia, so the cost for Asian players may be slightly more.
According to statistics from the International Tennis Federation, nearly half of the professional players registered with the International Tennis Federation do not receive a penny in bonuses throughout the year, while 96% of the tennis players participating in official competitions After a year, I couldn't even get a single point.
According to another statistics, in tennis, there are 336 male players whose bonuses can maintain a basic balance of payments, and 253 female players. For professional players lower than this world ranking, their bonuses are not enough to maintain balance. When he participated in the competition, it could be said that he was participating in debt.
Looking at this data alone, in men's tennis, world ranking 350 is equivalent to the player's "subsistence line." Of course, this data does not include the sponsorship of advertising endorsements. For athletes, even if they are not ranked in the world, as long as they have enough sponsorship fees, they can still fly around the world to compete.
Chen Zhen's world ranking has just entered the top 200. Before that, his world ranking was outside the third or fourth hundred. This is equivalent to hovering at the "subsistence line". If his performance is slightly worse, he will have to go into debt to compete. So for Chen Zhen, the five million advertising endorsements in the past three years are really a timely blessing. He doesn’t have to worry about the cost of traveling abroad to compete, and he still has money to hire a high-level foreign tennis coach.
After ending the call with Chen Jianguo, Dai Li also showed a relieved smile.
The strength of domestic men's tennis is inherently weak, and the living environment of tennis players is also very rough. Those players whose families are financially well-off are okay, but the average working class really cannot afford a professional player. For someone like Chen Zhen, although his talent is not the best, he is still one of the top tennis talents in the country. Being able to help him and improve his competition and training environment is also a good thing for the development of domestic tennis.
Dai Li turned on the computer and checked the US Open results. At this time, the US Open has entered the final stage. Although the King Basel had some bumps in the first round, it was smooth sailing afterwards and he directly entered the final. The championship is just around the corner.
Just as Dai Li was browsing the latest sports news, the phone rang. It was a call from the receptionist at the front desk.
"Boss, I just received an invitation letter signed by the Laureus World Sports Association. They invite you to attend the Laureus Sports Awards ceremony." The front desk said.
"I know, please send the invitation letter to my office." Dai Li said.
Seeing this invitation letter, Dai Li knew that he had entered the list of candidates for the Lawrence Award.
The Laureus Awards are the most influential awards in the world of sports and the only global sports awards ceremony. The Laureus Awards are generally awarded at the beginning of each year, and are awarded to individuals and groups that have made contributions to world sports in the past year.
For each Laureus Award, six individuals or groups are first nominated as candidates by more than 2,000 senior sports journalists from more than 70 countries and regions, and then selected by 52 directors of the Laureus Sports Society in a secret vote. Out the winners.
If the previous year coincided with the Olympic Games or the World Cup, the Laureus Award would be more inclined to these two major sports events when selecting. For example, when the World Cup was held last year, the best team award would most likely be awarded to the World Cup champion. For example, the 2007 Laureus Best Team Award was awarded to the Italian men's football team, the 2011 Best Team Award was awarded to the Spanish men's football team, and in 2015, the German men's football team won this award.
This year coincides with the Olympic year, so the Lawrence awards will be more biased towards athletes and teams that have won the Olympic Games. For example, the U.S. track and field team has a crazy performance of 27 gold medals in the Olympics. It is also the largest Lawrence Best Team Award this year. Popular.
At the same time, Lawrence also added several awards this year, such as the Sports Model Award, the Sports Charity Award, and the Coach of the Year Award. And Li Dai has a good chance of winning the first Lawrence Coach of the Year Award.
Dai Li called the USATF and asked USATF to find out who the other five candidates were. Soon after, he got the detailed information of the other five candidates. "
"Fernando, the head coach of the Portuguese men's football team. The Portuguese team won this year's European Cup, and he also qualified for the best coach. Although the Portuguese team is a strong team, there are no weak teams in Europe. They can win The European Cup is also not easy."
"Steve, the head coach of the NBA Golden State Warriors. The Warriors were also the NBA champions last season. Just one NBA championship may not be enough to nominate Lawrence as the best coach, but the Warriors refreshed NBA history last season. The previous record for wins in a single season was a terrifying 73 wins in a single season.”
"Helheim, team principal and race engineer of the Ferrari team in the Formula One World Championship. Helheim, the car king, seemed to adapt to his new job very well after his recovery. The Ferrari team also regained the constructor championship and driver title last season. Champion. It looks like I will have another chance to see Helheim again at the Laureus Awards."
"Henry, the head coach of the Boston Red Sox of Major League Baseball. The Boston Red Sox have always been a powerhouse in American professional baseball, and they also won the World Series last season. Speaking of which, Coach Henry coached Boston. The Red Sox have been with the team for more than ten years, and he was the one who broke the curse of Babe Ruth. In baseball, he is definitely a legendary manager, and maybe that's why he got the candidate spot."
"Mohammed, the head coach of Afghanistan Cricket, in the past two Cricket World Cups, the Afghan team has won one semi-final and one runner-up. This is for Afghanistan, a country that is still attacked by car bombs from time to time. It’s indeed not easy.”
Looking at the list of other five candidates, Li Dai felt that compared with the other five candidates, he indeed had an advantage.
The performance of the U.S. track and field team in the Olympics is Dai Li's biggest bargaining chip.
This time the U.S. track and field team suffered from the impact of the doping scandal. Before the Olympics, it was not favored by the outside world at all. Everyone described the U.S. track and field team as the weakest track and field team in history. However, Dai Li took this team with him. The weak team counterattacked and achieved the best results in the history of the Olympic Games and also created a miracle.
Among the other five candidates, this year's Portuguese men's football team has the best level in Europe, the Golden State Warriors are also the strongest team in the NBA, Ferrari is the king of F1, and the Boston Red Sox have always been the best team in American professional football. Among the top players in Major League Baseball, these four teams are all strong teams and winning the championship, which cannot be regarded as a miracle. They are not as good as Li Dai in this regard.
Moreover, the Golden State Warriors and Boston Red Sox are also professional teams in the United States. Let them compete with their national teams for awards, which puts them at an inherent disadvantage. If they really win a certain award while competing with their national team, but the national team does not, it will also be a very hateful thing.
As for Afghanistan’s cricket, it is indeed very inspiring, and their achievements can be regarded as a model for a weak team to counterattack. But Dai Li is the head coach of the US track and field team and represents the United States. How can Afghanistan compete with his American father? Awards
It is somewhat far-fetched for F1's Helheim to win the best coach award. Although Helheim is also the team leader and game engineer, in terms of real functions, he and the coaches of other sports It's still different.
Formula One is originally a team sport. If you want to achieve good results, it is not enough to have a good driver. You also need a fast enough car. At the same time, the strategy during the game and the work of changing tires on the car will also directly affect the final result. The results are huge, and the impact is huge, so the tasks of mechanical engineers and strategic engineers are equally important. The strength of a racing driver needs to be reflected by the car, but also by his entire team behind the scenes. This is not like basketball or football. Give a player a ball and he will be able to show the world his amazing skills.
…
In February, Dai Li returned to China for the Chinese New Year. Before he could celebrate the Lantern Festival, he hurriedly flew to London, England, where the new Laureus World Sports Awards ceremony was held.
The first-class cabin of the plane provided a variety of latest magazines and newspapers, including sports ones. Dai Li picked up a few newspapers and started reading.
"Golden State Warriors head coach Steve missed the Lawrence Award Ceremony because of the NBA All-Star Game."
"Boston Red Sox head coach Henry also missed the Lawrence Award Ceremony due to preseason reasons."
"If you don't come, it will be difficult to award this award to you. It seems like Steve and Henry intend to give up this award."